


Back in the Boat

by OneSmartChicken



Series: Drabbles [9]
Category: The Finder (TV)
Genre: Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-15 22:38:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16072808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneSmartChicken/pseuds/OneSmartChicken
Summary: Family is family. No matter how far apart, no matter what happens. And when life kicks you when you're down, family's there to pick you up and put the pieces back together. Even if they've gotta break a few other people's pieces in the process.Or how Willa met one hell of a coincidence, and made everything better. (A shameless fix it fic with no finesse and a little vengeance.)This is a perfectly reasonable reaction to episode thirteen





	Back in the Boat

**Author's Note:**

> Who the fuck needs realism or research fuck that I just wanna kill the bad guys and save my babies. Thus: meet Val. Shh. I really enjoy how the Finder didn't forget the gazillion people who owed Walter, but I couldn't be bothered to stick with their characters so, OCs it is.
> 
>  
> 
> This really has no elegance, but it's what I needed to stop basically screaming internally after episode thirteen. I couldn't find a fix-it that satisfied me so I wrote it myself. Hopefully it'll satisfy some other folks too.

Rescues tend to be pretty enthusiastic about people who spend a lot of money to save an animal, especially when they're not people who have throwing-around money. One big selfless act can be pretty endearing, especially combined with an oddly charming weirdo, a pretty US Marshal who kept giving a big race horse cuddles, and a lawyer who quoted poets and philosophers while looking like he could bench press a truck.

So when one of the volunteers passed a young blond hitchhiker, she thought, Huh, isn't that the underaged bartender? Val remembered because while she'd been helping with Sweets, one of the others had decided to flirt and wound up getting some of her story, and they'd joked on the drive back that rescuing must be a hobby of theirs. It was memorable. So she turned the truck around, glad she didn't have anything alive in the trailer that'd mind the sharp turn.

She rolled down the passenger window, grinning at the girl, just as pretty and golden as she remembered.

"Hey, going anywhere in particular?" she asked, instead of diving right into concerned citizen; it wasn't hard to recognize the familiar look of an easily spooked animal, even with the charming smile.

"North, preferably," she said, amping up the charming, almost enough to hide the weariness in her eyes.

"Well, if you don't mind a detour and a bit of a slow trip, I'm going up around Tampa," Val offered, unlocking the doors for good measure. Maybe the girl would rob her blind, but maybe not. Rescuing was a life full of risks. Val didn't have much worth stealing anyway.

"What's the detour?" she asked, even as she inched towards the door. Val smiled.

"Gotta see a man about a horse," she answered cheerfully.

That got her a dry look but did the trick, and the girl was climbing up into the truck like it was old hat, introducing herself as Willa and shaking Val's hand when she offered. She even got out and helped get the newest rescues--a skinny mare and her wobbly foal--loaded into the trailer, smiling a small, real smile that warmed Val's heart when the foal let her get a pet in. A sign Val figured meant she'd made the right choice; the foal was a skittish little thing, just the sort Val trusted the judgment of.

It was a long drive, going slow and easy enough to keep the horses comfortable, going extra careful with that little foal and the mama's bony spine in mind. They weren't the worst Val'd picked up--at least these two could travel without sedation--but they still needed rescuing, which was never good. If they weren't short-staffed it'd be a three person team. Honestly, she was glad for Willa; in case anything happened on the drive, it was best to have an extra hand on deck.

Nothing did happen though, and they made it to the bay area without a hitch, though it was well into the night by the time they pulled up at the rescue, and they were both yawning as they got the two settled in. Sweets stuck his head out of his stall despite the late hour, and Val pretended not to watch as Willa obliged his demands for attention. Maybe he smelled his rescuer on her, or maybe he just liked her, like the foal. Either way, Val's determination redoubled.

No way she was letting a little girl go off on her own in the middle of the night.

"Hey kid," she said, casual-like. "My wife's got dinner going and she always makes a shitton. You in for a hot meal?"

Willa waffled, but Val wasn't easily shook, and after some cajoling, a little pushiness, and some input from Sweets, Willa went home to have dinner with Val and Lorie, and then even a clever delinquent couldn't quite get out of Lorie's enthusiastic welcome, not when she was falling asleep at the table. After a few mumbled attempts to attain coffee, she sulked her way off to sleep on the couch--with the three kittens they were fostering taking up residence on her belly, their mama curled around Willa's head like an orange tabby halo. The perfect defense to keep her from sneaking out in the night.

So Willa was still there in the morning when Val checked the news sites (the local ones from down in the keys) and found the article.

The one about Walter.

And the one about Willa.

"Willa," Val says, and she sits back and thinks and she says, "My mother was a killer. My brother too. Ma said it was the family business." Willa's looking at her funny, but Val made up her mind already. "Guns for hire--there's never too many, not good ones at least. We were always running and I never cared, that was--that was my life. I liked it. Liked changing my name all the time. And then there was this puppy, and the next time I see him there's this gorgeous woman walking him."

"And she changed her name again," Lorie murmured, looping her arms around Val and leaning into her. "And stayed with me and the rescue."

"So you know I don't care what they want you for," Val said. She turned the laptop around to face Willa. "And I figured you'd want to see this."

***

Timo came. He had a black eye and a split lip and an arm around his ribs. Magdalena came with him, with her pretty lips twisted in a silent snarl and a burning in her eyes. She looked at Val though and suddenly grinned.

"Granma," Magdalena said, and Val snorted.

"Need to learn how to teach people not to mess with what's yours, little cousin," Val said. "What's that idiot doing, letting you get in messes like this?"

Magdalena shrugged, looking down. "Workin for Uncle Shad," she muttered.

"I heard about Shad," Val mused. "Heard he was good for the family."

Lorie said, lightly, "Sounds like they could do better."

"I'll make some calls," Val decided. "Magdalena, don't tell that idiot anything. I'm gonna have to reteach him." She pulled out a cigarette and went outside.

"What the fuck, Mag?" Timo asked.

"She came over to see Papa once when I was little," Magdalena shrugged. "I figured she was family but--s'not like anyone told me. Papa just said she wasn't gaje. And she gave me a knife."

"So my house is full of Romani criminals," Lorie spoke up, sounding amused. "Hey brats; while your cousin's callin in the calvary, you wanna help socialize some kittens?"

Val cackled when she came back to find her little cousins all on the floor with the kittens--and Mama Kitty stubbornly glued to Timo's lap. Lorie was grinning, though she had most of her attention on her phone, no doubt working even though she was off today.

"Alright cousins," she started, folding herself down onto the floor. She scooped up one of the pudgy kittens, setting him on her shoulder where she could kiss him. "First, tell me about the family. I've been outta touch." So they told her, and kept telling even when Willa got sidetracked talking about the Ends of the Earth, and when they were done Val huffed.

"Alright then. Hey mama, the rescue gonna turn on its head if it gets a lil less legal?" She tilted her head at Lorie.

"Should be fine," Lorie shrugged. "Just don't fuck it up."

"Kay. Come on kiddos, roadtrip. Willa hon, call your PO, tell her you got kidnapped and your aunt's bringing you back," Val instructed. She pushed to her feet, depositing her favorite kitten on Lorie's lap when she leaned in for a kiss. "Be back as soon as I get these hooligans sorted." And with the teenagers trailing like nervous ducklings, Val went and hopped into her truck, starting it up as the kids piled in, Timo and Magdalena taking the back seat.

"What are you gonna do?" Timo asked, and they were all nervous, but with the world all but burning down around their ears, it was hard not to trust a confident adult who promised to help. Val glanced at him in the rearview mirror, brow twitching.

"Whaddya think, cousin?" she drawled. She threw the truck into gear and pulled out of the driveway, glad she'd left the trailer at the rescue the night before. "I'm gonna kill your Uncle Shad."

There was silence, and then suddenly Magdalena laughed. "Mama said Papa's side of the family was crazy," she said cheerfully.

"Damn straight," Val agreed. "Miami, right? Good. I can swing by and kick some sense into your papa while I'm there. Twofer."

"Ugh," Willa sighed, slouching down. "Leo's gonna be pissed." Val patted her arm comfortingly.

"That's what happens when you make friends with gaje, hon," she said. "Lorie's just as bad. Love is a pain in my ass."

"Same," Willa agreed, and Magdalena nodded.

"Ouch," Timo complained, but the giggles of his fiancee and his girlfriend made him smile.

***

"Dunno why I expected subtlety," Willa mused.

"Cause she's family?" Timo suggested.

"Married to a gaje," Magdalena reminded them.

"You're all grounded," Val decided. "Come on. I'd look stupid on my own. Plus, I want that asshole to know he deserves this." She hopped out of the truck, and led the way, adopting a rolling stalk instead of the bowlegged meander she'd been using previously.

"Move outta the way, cousins," Val recommended the guards. "The Coyote's here for Shad." They exchanged a speaking glance--and got out of the way. As did everyone else between them and the stairs, and when Uncle Shad looked up from the woman sitting next to him, it was only in time to see the glass tumbler before it hit him, knocking him out of the chair.

Val stood over him, grinning. It was easy to see the resemblance between them, both gray haired but wearing their age well, the same nose, even the same eyes, though Val was a little darker overall.

"Valeria," Shad breather.

"Hey cousin," Val greeted. She dug her toe into his ribs, turning him over to the sound of his pained shout and the breaking of bones. "I ran off with a gaje cause you were supposed to look after everyone. Aunt Maga said you were a good boy, real smart." She braced her heel on his wrist, stopping the grab for a gun, and knelt. She gave him a pitying smile. "Then I stumble across my little cousins all heart-broken and sweet, and hear what you been up to. Don't sound real smart to me, cousin."

"Coyote must be spitting," Shad said, grinning at her despite his pale cheeks. "She was the one who made us not chase you. Traded herself. Your mother was pretty, Pup." Val smiled at him, and sunk her heel into his wrist.

"Daughter takes mother, cousin," she told him, pinching his cheek in a pantomime of affection. "That makes me Coyote now. Sounds better than Uncle Shad, y'ask me. Maybe we'll take a vote." She smiled brightly, and suddenly she had his gun in her hands, and then he was dead.

Val stood, rolling her shoulders. She sighed. "Mama always said it was a waste of time getting in the last word," she mused, wiping absently at the blood on her face. "Sometimes it's worth it though." She looked at the unknown woman, Shad's last chat, tilted her head expectantly. The woman, pale and blond and scared, ducked her head.

Satisfied that that would keep, Val looked at the teenagers. Willa was teary-eyed, teeth clenched but head up, determined. Timo had a hand to his mouth, looking faintly green, and his eyes faintly damp. Magdalena just stared straight ahead, grimly accepting.

"Aw, babies. I'm sorry," she crooned, walking away from the body to gather all three close, kissing their hair and temples, murmuring apologies and soothing nonsense as they clung to her. She managed to get them up the stairs, leaving the remains to be dealt with later.

"Now cousins," she murmured, wiping one of Willa's tears away. "Lemme tell the family what's up, and then let's see what we can do about Walter."

***

Sitting in the newly cleaned meeting room with Val, Willa called Leo. He cried when he heard her voice, and cried some more when she told him why she'd left, and sniffled when she said that it was okay now. That they were going to fix it.

"Mr. Knox," Val said, and the smile in her voice was real and honest in a way Shad hadn't been able to replicate, not for decades. "I appreciate you looking after my little cousin. I promise she'll be back with you soon, and she's safe for the time being. I know her PO's not going to let her off though, even when we hand over her kidnapper, and I'd rather have her help for this."

"Who is this?" Leo demanded. "What kidnapper?"

"You can call me Val. As for the rest--it's a long story, and one you wouldn't enjoy. Plausible deniability, Mr. Knox. This phone call is risky enough. For the moment, let's focus on your friend, Mr. Sherman? I owe him a favor. I suspect I'm not the only one. And I thought, if me and some of those other favors joined together--well. I like happy endings, Mr. Knox."

Leo stayed silent for a long while. Val waited him out. "I was always partial to happy endings myself, ma'am," he allowed. Val grinned. She nodded to Willa though, smile turning sheepish.

"Anything you can tell Mr. Knox that'll reassure him, little cousin? I think we'd all feel better if he stopped thinking I've got a gun to your head," she said, gently amused, but sympathetic as well.

"Uh," Willa hesitated. "We don't have a code word or anything but--Val's nice, Leo. Like. Rescues puppies and kittens nice. Scary too cause, duh. But it's seriously fine. Val's definitely the hero this time around."

"Are you implying I'm not always the hero?" Val teased, grinning. Willa rolled her eyes.

"You are so not," she confirmed. "You're like, the nice villain. At best." Leo laughed though, relieved to hear Willa freely snarking, unafraid of repercussions--and Val clearly unbothered by the words. He'd rather she wasn't with a villain, nice or not, but it was...acceptable. For the moment.

"Let me get the book," he said.

And it turned out, a whole lot of people owed Walter a whole lot of favors.

 

  
It took three weeks to get Walter home. He gave Val a speculative look, then decided his time was better spent hugging his family, and kissing Isabel.

Val was right, that her PO couldn't let her off scott-free, but in light of her kidnappers (a dead man and three terrified accomplices) she got off with that month in juvie she'd requested.

Langston had been sleeping at the bar, and he spent a few hours hanging off his little brother like a limpet.

And by the time Willa came home, there was only one real change to their lives; a new trailer, with a young, happy couple, and the occasional visit from a new regular, who liked to check in on her cousins--and had a love for their house special drink. A whole lotta people still owed Walter a whole lotta favors, and everyone needed something found someday, and when they did, the Finder was there, flawless record in tact.

**Author's Note:**

> It took me like four months to post this cause I kept being like "shouldn't there be more to it??" and honestly yes, but I'm not intending to rewatch the series anytime soon, and honestly I'm pretty satisfied with this, as proven by the fact that when I tried to write more to it I instead wrote a johnlock short with my sociopathic empath Joan Watson. I might share that eventually, for funsies.


End file.
